Months of remote working as the coronavirus closed offices across the country has left a legacy of sore necks and stiff backs.
But the solution could be at hand in a range of desks with built-in exercise equipment.
Research from KPMG found that 69 per cent of 500 CEOs from the world's most influential firms plan to reduce their office space over three years, so it seems likely the work-from-home culture will be here to stay.
However, many employees lack the equipment they need to avoid spinal problems and wrist injuries.
While physiotherapists report an increase in patients with issues brought on by stooping over laptops and phones for hours, home office suppliers have seen sales boom during the pandemic.
When tech companies allowed more staff to work for home we saw a different demand for our machines
Kelly Robinson, a senior physiotherapist at Anatomy Rehab in Dubai, said most workers do not have their workspaces at home set up properly.
"Not having the correct desks or ergonomic chairs, with a laptop on a sofa or coffee table, can cause serious problems when used for longer than two to three hours a day," she said.
“It puts a lot of pressure on the neck and thoracic spine, as the head is constantly facing downwards to view the screen and keyboard.
“We are seeing problems in the neck with disc bulges and prolapses, following an overload on joints and soft tissue in the neck, back and spine.”
How to work from home in comfort
Acupuncture and manual therapy are common treatments to relieve tight muscles, but correct seating positions at work are crucial to a healthy posture.
Using a laptop trackpad rather than a desktop mouse can create issues with the wrist or arms, Ms Robinson said.
“Ideally, you should not be sitting all the time.”
In Sweden, if a company makes home working mandatory, employees must be provided with a safe working environment, which includes a desk and chair.
Standing desks are also encouraged to help eliminate chronic back problems.
Tech companies are at the forefront of implementing standing desks in offices to improve posture and reduce back issues in employees.
Google, Facebook, Twitter and Apple are some of the companies to implement the measure.
Researchers in the UK found that although office furniture sales were generally down in 2020, demand for office chairs to use at home soared, a trend being replicated here in the UAE.
Jawad Sahloul is head of digital commerce at Move To Excellence, a company supplying gym equipment with built-in desks in Umm Al Quwain.
Although sales have dropped during the pandemic, his customer base has switched from businesses and office sales to those looking to equip home offices with workspace equipment by companies such as LifeSpan.
Products include a walking treadmill desk, combining a treadmill with an adjustable standing desk, and an under desk bike – a compact upright exercise bike that fits beneath most standing desks.
“Demand has increased for personal use during Covid,” said Mr Sahloul.
“That has offset the decrease we’ve seen from businesses offering this kind of equipment to create an active zone inside offices.
“When tech companies allowed more staff to work for home, we saw a different demand for our machines.”
The appliances are more expensive than regular exercise equipment, but are specifically designed for offices.
The growing popularity of active work stations
In the UAE, Facebook was one of the first companies to use active desks, but employees of other tech firms, including Google, Oracle and Microsoft, have also purchased the equipment for home use.
“It allows people to walk or cycle while they are working, so it creates a far healthier workspace for them,” said Mr Sahloul.
“Our treadmills are designed to operate at low speeds for a long time, so they can be used for 2-3 hours a day while working, which makes a huge difference to someone’s health.”
Dubai resident Emmet, 36, uses a treadmill desk to exercise while working, as being a dad has left him with little spare time to work out.
“With a long work day followed by playtime with the kids, dinner and evening rituals, it never really left time for exercise without sacrificing something else,” said Emmet, who works in IT.
“In the beginning, reaching 10,000 steps a day left me exhausted, now that limit is pushed to 20,000 steps or more.
“It burns around 400 to 700 calories per day, so naturally it helps me shed some corona kilos and I really hope it can help me keep my weight under control.
"It took a few years to persuade my employer to invest in a few treadmills for the office, now a lot of my colleagues take daily walks."
In pictures: exercising around the UAE
Zayed Sustainability Prize
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What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
Where to donate in the UAE
The Emirates Charity Portal
You can donate to several registered charities through a “donation catalogue”. The use of the donation is quite specific, such as buying a fan for a poor family in Niger for Dh130.
The General Authority of Islamic Affairs & Endowments
The site has an e-donation service accepting debit card, credit card or e-Dirham, an electronic payment tool developed by the Ministry of Finance and First Abu Dhabi Bank.
Al Noor Special Needs Centre
You can donate online or order Smiles n’ Stuff products handcrafted by Al Noor students. The centre publishes a wish list of extras needed, starting at Dh500.
Beit Al Khair Society
Beit Al Khair Society has the motto “From – and to – the UAE,” with donations going towards the neediest in the country. Its website has a list of physical donation sites, but people can also contribute money by SMS, bank transfer and through the hotline 800-22554.
Dar Al Ber Society
Dar Al Ber Society, which has charity projects in 39 countries, accept cash payments, money transfers or SMS donations. Its donation hotline is 800-79.
Dubai Cares
Dubai Cares provides several options for individuals and companies to donate, including online, through banks, at retail outlets, via phone and by purchasing Dubai Cares branded merchandise. It is currently running a campaign called Bookings 2030, which allows people to help change the future of six underprivileged children and young people.
Emirates Airline Foundation
Those who travel on Emirates have undoubtedly seen the little donation envelopes in the seat pockets. But the foundation also accepts donations online and in the form of Skywards Miles. Donated miles are used to sponsor travel for doctors, surgeons, engineers and other professionals volunteering on humanitarian missions around the world.
Emirates Red Crescent
On the Emirates Red Crescent website you can choose between 35 different purposes for your donation, such as providing food for fasters, supporting debtors and contributing to a refugee women fund. It also has a list of bank accounts for each donation type.
Gulf for Good
Gulf for Good raises funds for partner charity projects through challenges, like climbing Kilimanjaro and cycling through Thailand. This year’s projects are in partnership with Street Child Nepal, Larchfield Kids, the Foundation for African Empowerment and SOS Children's Villages. Since 2001, the organisation has raised more than $3.5 million (Dh12.8m) in support of over 50 children’s charities.
Noor Dubai Foundation
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum launched the Noor Dubai Foundation a decade ago with the aim of eliminating all forms of preventable blindness globally. You can donate Dh50 to support mobile eye camps by texting the word “Noor” to 4565 (Etisalat) or 4849 (du).
Another way to earn air miles
In addition to the Emirates and Etihad programmes, there is the Air Miles Middle East card, which offers members the ability to choose any airline, has no black-out dates and no restrictions on seat availability. Air Miles is linked up to HSBC credit cards and can also be earned through retail partners such as Spinneys, Sharaf DG and The Toy Store.
An Emirates Dubai-London round-trip ticket costs 180,000 miles on the Air Miles website. But customers earn these ‘miles’ at a much faster rate than airline miles. Adidas offers two air miles per Dh1 spent. Air Miles has partnerships with websites as well, so booking.com and agoda.com offer three miles per Dh1 spent.
“If you use your HSBC credit card when shopping at our partners, you are able to earn Air Miles twice which will mean you can get that flight reward faster and for less spend,” says Paul Lacey, the managing director for Europe, Middle East and India for Aimia, which owns and operates Air Miles Middle East.
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Hydrogen has an estimated $11 trillion market potential, according to Bank of America Securities and is expected to generate $2.5tn in direct revenues and $11tn of indirect infrastructure by 2050 as its production increases six-fold.
"We believe we are reaching the point of harnessing the element that comprises 90 per cent of the universe, effectively and economically,” the bank said in a recent report.
Falling costs of renewable energy and electrolysers used in green hydrogen production is one of the main catalysts for the increasingly bullish sentiment over the element.
The cost of electrolysers used in green hydrogen production has halved over the last five years and will fall to 60 to 90 per cent by the end of the decade, acceding to Haim Israel, equity strategist at Merrill Lynch. A global focus on decarbonisation and sustainability is also a big driver in its development.
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The Africa Institute 101
Housed on the same site as the original Africa Hall, which first hosted an Arab-African Symposium in 1976, the newly renovated building will be home to a think tank and postgraduate studies hub (it will offer master’s and PhD programmes). The centre will focus on both the historical and contemporary links between Africa and the Gulf, and will serve as a meeting place for conferences, symposia, lectures, film screenings, plays, musical performances and more. In fact, today it is hosting a symposium – 5-plus-1: Rethinking Abstraction that will look at the six decades of Frank Bowling’s career, as well as those of his contemporaries that invested social, cultural and personal meaning into abstraction.
In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
- Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000
- Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000
- Production engineer: Dh30,000 to Dh40,000
- Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000
- HR leader: Dh40,000 to Dh60,000
- Engineering leader: Dh30,000 to Dh55,000
- Project manager: Dh55,000 to Dh65,000
- Senior reservoir engineer: Dh40,000 to Dh55,000
- Senior drilling engineer: Dh38,000 to Dh46,000
- Senior process engineer: Dh28,000 to Dh38,000
- Senior maintenance engineer: Dh22,000 to Dh34,000
- Field engineer: Dh6,500 to Dh7,500
- Field supervisor: Dh9,000 to Dh12,000
- Field operator: Dh5,000 to Dh7,000
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
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Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
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Results
3pm: Maiden Dh165,000 (Dirt) 1,400m, Winner: Lancienegaboulevard, Adrie de Vries (jockey), Fawzi Nass (trainer).
3.35pm: Maiden Dh165,000 (Turf) 1,600m, Winner: Al Mukhtar Star, Adrie de Vries, Fawzi Nass.
4.10pm: Handicap Dh165,000 (D) 2,000m, Winner: Gundogdu, Xavier Ziani, Salem bin Ghadayer.
4.45pm: Handicap Dh185,000 (T) 1,200m, Winner: Speedy Move, Sean Kirrane, Satish Seemar.
5.20pm: Handicap Dh185,000 (D) 1,600m, Winner: Moqarrar, Dane O’Neill, Erwan Charpy.
5.55pm: Handicap Dh175,000 (T) 1,800m, Winner: Dolman, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar.
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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The five pillars of Islam
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2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
